Living Trust Lawyer Cottleville

What is a deed and what does it do?

A deed is a document which conveys or transfers real property (i.e. real estate such as land or a home or both) to another person or persons.

First off, why is recording a deed so important?

For several reasons:  1. Recording a deed provides notice to the world that you have an interest in a particular piece of property.  Imagine if there was no registry of property ownership. Someone could say they own your home and someone could potentially buy it even though the seller never owned it.  2. Recording a deed adds it to the chain of title, which is essential to being able to get a mortgage on a piece of property. That’s because recording deeds not only protects your interest in the property but it protects the lender’s interest as well.  When you mortgage a property, you conduct a title report which verifies that the owner who says they own the property actually owns it free and clear and there are no defects to title. A defect to title, sometimes referred to in Missouri as a cloud on title, means the title is imperfect.  This could be from an unpaid mortgage, a tax lien, a creditor lien or many other sources.

What is a warranty deed and why is that important?

When you buy your home, you’ll usually want to get a warranty deed.   This type of deed “warrants” that the home is free and clear of encumbrances and that the seller has the legal right and authority to sell the property.  In most Missouri warranty deeds, the buyer receives the following covenants/ assurances from the seller: covenant of seisin, power to sell, freedom from encumbrances, quiet enjoyment and warranty of title.  Because the seller makes all these warrants, this is the most desirable way from a buyer to obtain title to a property.

What is a special warranty deed?

This type of deed differs from a Missouri warranty deed in that the seller is only warranting the covenants / assurances listed in the above while they owned the property.  So if a seller owned a home for three years, under the special warranty deed, any adversarial claims as to ownership that are made from a time before the current seller owned the home are not covered.  

What is a deed of release in Missouri?  

A deed of release is a document that a lien holder and/or lender has to record once the underlying lien or mortgage has been satisfied.  Example: Joan and John buy a home in 1989 with a mortgage of $200,000 through ABC Bank. ABC Bank is the lender and has a mortgage on the property.  Joan and John do really well and pay off their thirty year mortgage in 2005. Once that occurs, ABC Bank must record a deed of release, which has the effect of notifying the world that they once had a mortgage on the Joan and John’s property but it’s been pain in full.  In 2007, Joan and John have some financial difficulties and are in arrears on their federal taxes. The IRS files a lien for the amount in arrears and in 2010, Joan and John pay off the taxes owed and the IRS files a deed of release.

What is a quitclaim deed and are they legal in Missouri?

A quitclaim deed, often mistakenly referred to as a quick claim deed, is a type of deed which transfers a person’s ownership (referred to as a grantor) in real property to another person or persons (referred to as a grantee) but does not warrant ownership in the real property and makes no assurances it will defend adverse claims against the grantee’s ownership.

Why would a person quitclaim real property without make a warranty that they own it in the first place?

There are a variety of reasons.  First, in situations between family members, it may not be necessary to make those warranties to begin with.  Second, they are the ideal way to transfer property where the property is not being sold but merely transferred.  Example: John owns a home before his marriage to Jane. John wants to make sure Jane owns the property with him so he quitclaims his interest in the home to himself and Jane as joint tenants.  The idea here is that this gives security to Jane and John because if something were to happen to John, Jane would still own the property, subject to any existing mortgage.

If I create a living trust, do I have to quitclaim my property to my trust or is there another method?

As a living trust lawyer Cottleville, our office normally will create a beneficiary deed to transfer ownership of property once both trustors (often husband and wife) have passed away.  That resolves the issue of ensuring the home is funded in the living trust as with a quitclaim deed, but avoids the inconvenience that sometimes comes with transferring your home into the trust via quitclaim deed.  One example is that it can be tricky to sell the property if you lose your copy of the trust and re-financing a property that is owned by a living trust can require several deeds to be recorded to accomplish this task, raising the cost and inconvenience level of the process considerably.  

Can I create a quitclaim deed to transfer my home to my children, with instructions to them to only record the deed after I pass away?

Yes.  But I wouldn’t recommend this method in almost all cases.  Why? Well presumably you want to make sure your children own the property after you pass away but not until then.  A beneficiary deed has the same effect, but with a beneficiary deed O’Fallon, the document must be recorded before you pass away to be valid.  So in the above scenario, with a beneficiary deed you can make sure the children own the property after you pass away but not a second before that, but you also don’t have to worry about losing a quitclaim deed, someone not following through with recording the deed after you die and other possibilities that prevent your wishes from being accomplished.  

Does your firm record deeds?

Yes and it’s a service that we provide because creating a deed and recording it are two different processes.  At Legacy Law Center, we’ll not only accurately draft the deed, but once you have signed it, we’ll make sure it’s properly notarized and then we can record the document in any county in Missouri.  We frequently record Lake Ozark condominium deeds, Mark Twain Lake deeds, even Missouri timeshare deeds for places like Branson. Once the deed is recorded, we send you a digital copy by email, or a hard copy by mail if you prefer and you know that the entire process is complete, which provides tremendous peace of mind.  

Do you charge to record deeds?

No.  Our firm will quote you a flat fee to draft the deed and record the deed, which also includes any recording fees required by the county Recorder of Deeds.  These recording fees are usually around $24 – $30 dollars per deed, depending on the number of pages being recorded.